Argo

ATTN:  MOVIE SPOILERS INCLUDED

Argo

October 28, 2012

My Opinion:

4.5 out of 5 bags of popcorn for the overall movie

5 out of 5 boxes of milk duds for my own personal entertainment

My Suggestion:  A must for the theatre

The gist:  After the US Embassy in Iran is raided, 6 American diplomats manage to escape to the Canadian Ambassador’s residence.  CIA Agent Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) is tasked with extracting the hostages and returning them safely to US soil.  He devises an intricate plan to pose as an Associate Producer for a fake movie and gives the 6 Americans false identities as his Canadian film crew.  This movie is based on a true story.

My take:

I usually start out discussing the cast, but in this case I have to start with the movie itself.  I was so excited when I read about this movie and put it on my MUST SEE list.  I was even more excited as the positive reviews began flowing in.  This movie is so intense and my heart was pounding the entire second half of the film.  Most Americans already know the story, or part of the story and we know that the operation is a success and the American’s escape Iran alive.  I thought that would partially ruin the film for me, because I already knew the ending, but it just made the process of the extraction all that more interesting.  The pace of the movie gets going and it builds to the final moments at the airport, which to me was one of the best, most intense scenes I have ever seen in a movie. 

The acting was superb.  Ben Affleck plays a rough around the edges, CIA agent who is completely dedicated to his mission.  He will do anything it takes to get these people out alive.  Ben is sporting a beard and mustache and longer hair to fit in with the era of the film.  He still looks quite good to me!  I was impressed with his very real and honest portrayal of the character and I could almost feel his anguish as things began to unravel on his mission.  To me there were two other stand outs in the film and that way John Goodman and Alan Arkin.  Both played Hollywood type’s trying to help Tony Mendez succeed in his plan to make a fake movie.   They both had some great one liners and they made the movie very enjoyable and gave some laughable moments.  Bryan Cranston was great too.  (just like he is in all his roles)

I highly recommend this movie and think it should be seen in the theatre.  My only complaint about the film (and this is minor) is that there were some elements that were not needed.  The audience was already captivated and anticipating the planes take off enough, we didn’t need the chase down the runway with the military militia.  Like I said, a very minor thing, but just a little too far over the edge.